Much of the hate speech I’ve see in comments on the D&C “storychat” area focuses on throwing the less fortunate in our society under the bus. The local GOP is hoping to harness that hatred every time they talk about the Medicaid bogeyman as a scapegoat for their own mismanagement at the county level.

Much of this hate comes from what presidential candiate Barack Obama accurately calls an “empathy deficit” in this country. It’s like Scrooge not caring about the poor until he actually realizes his actions can directly affect them (e.g. Tiny Tim).

Ghost of Christmas Present: Yes! So perhaps in the future you will hold your tongue until you have discovered what the surplus population is and where it is. It may well be that in the sight of Heaven you are more worthless and less fit to live than millions like this poor man’s child.

Compare that to this tidbit I found up on the D&C “storychat” about Brooks/Minarik’s new plan:

The young, educated and/or upwardly mobile citizenry of the Greater Rochester Area have and will continue to show how they feel about the prospects of subsidizing the dregs of society by leaving.

Typical of people who want small/no government, they believe that everyone should be in it for themselves with no compassion for anyone else. Well, Scrooge, I’d like you to meet a dreg:

Medicaid allows him to get what he needs to be all he can be, to overcome his disability. It keeps his family from going bankrupt. He may never climb a mountain, but someday this smart, loving, hard-working kid might dispatch the fire engine or ambulance that saves your family.

So I will not, cannot, allow your hateful selfishness to go unanswered. Just because the hole isn’t on your side of the lifeboat doesn’t mean you’re not part of the problem. And part of the solution.

Folks, it’s this kind of hate that the right-wing uses to further their interests. There are many reasons to fight for what’s right, but standing up for “the least among us” is a big one.

Many readers have probably heard the energetic Eric Massa speak.  Whatever your political affiliation, you always feel like you drank a couple cups of coffee after listening to him.

Well, he’s speaking in Fairport on the 3rd, with special guest David Koon.  Koon may be more soft-spoken than Massa (who isn’t?), but no less interesting.  You may remember Koon as another of our local progressive netroots heroes, having come out strongly in support of Clean Money Clean Elections (CMCE), as well as stepping up to the “No Reform, No Raise” challenge.

He was also rumored to be a candidate for County Exec this year, which I would’ve loved to see, and is currently rumored to be thinking about taking on State Sen Jim Alesi.

Donations are appreciated and will help elect progressive County Leg candidates.  It’s win-win-win.  Here’s the details:

5:30-7:30 PM, Oct 3

Green Lantern Inn

One E. Church St., Fairport

This comment in the D&C’s “storychat” on Brooks’ magic plan to “fix the county budget” was so good I feel compelled to present it to you here:

One of the the jobs of government is to make infrastructure investments that will offer returns with many kinds of benefits, sometimes for decades. Think Erie canal, railroads, highways and water systems.

Unfortunately, the rather basic idea of investing to get returns eludes Ms. Brooks. Inexplicably, a bus station plan that slows down increases costs for our mass transit system (such as it is) while spending tax $ to tear down a fully functional parking garage and the oldest buildings in a historic part of the city, has been a centerpiece of her efforts from her very first day.

The missed transportation investment opportunities caused by the misplaced focus on Ren Sq is particularly troubling when the price of oil seems to be exploring new heights with each passing week.

And while better mass transit would help tremendously, the budget deficit problem is much biggerr than that. As long as the local economy continues to shrink, all of the choices will be BAD and painful for the county, no matter who the county exec is after the fall election.

The difference between our area further emulating a shrinking Detroit or becoming more like a thriving Boston seems razor thin. Choices we make now could tip the balance one way or another.

How can we best use existing strengths to be well positioned in the areas of the economy that will most clearly be expanding in the future? Without a perfect crystal ball, every choice (including doing nothing)carries some risk but most people are putting green energy at or near the top of their top 3 list. There are so many parts to making, using, storing and distributing clean and sustainable energy that opportunity would appear boundless.

Could our historic strength in optics play a role? Splitting a water molecule to produce hydrogen using light is being studied in dozens of countries. It hasn’t been done successfully at anything near the scales required to be economic, but with further study especially with catalysts it could come to pass that man actually could get hydrogen from water using sunlight at an energy profits…. kind of like plants figured out how to do it 500million years ago.

More immediately, GRE has proposed using SOME of the genny hydropower to produce huydrogen from water using electrolysis –in other words ENTIRELY renewably– putting rochester on the emerging worlwide “hydrogen highway” in a way that is measurably advanced in the lack of fossil fuels needed. Like the african villages that skipped the copper wires and jumped to cell phones, lets make some bold moves here that are also sensible and practical.

(To minimize risk, investments should be modest in the begingnng and incremental with each next step measured and evaluated, clear low cost exit strategies for each peice always identified)

The county government could do much to encourage these steps and build on the local strengths in green energy our area ALREADY has going for it particularly fuel cell research, and other university level basic research. Other areas could be brought up to strength that would further add to this momentum. For example MCC, nimble and competant in many areas, has yet to get, use or study its first fuel cell, windmill or solar panel.

When business and young people are making locating decisions, would it help if we were “way out in front of clean energy technology development and implementation” or would a ginourmous bus station be more likely to do the trick? It seems we can’t afford to do both.

Who are you and how can we get you writing for RT???

I’m been trying to stay off the Rudy stuff, but when I find articles with titles like “Are you there, God? It’s me, Rudy” and read about his supporters’ plan to raise money $9.11 at a time, it’s hard to resist.  I like this story:

…it was scarcely a surprise when Mr. Giuliani, taking the stage at a candidate forum convened by the National Rifle Association last week to recite his law-and-order record, was interrupted by a cutesy cellphone call from his wife. And it was only a mild further embarrassment when the operatives of Mitt Romney’s campaign dug up and distributed a video clip of an earlier Giuliani appearance before a group of Cuban Americans back in June when the exact same folksy interruption occurred, with Giuliani again mugging to the crowd and asking his wife—or whoever was on the other end of the line—whether she wanted to say anything to the crowd.

How do we know the call was staged? Because it was from his wife…not his mistress.

Come meet Jon Powers at the local dfalink-up this Wednesday evening, October 3rd, at 6:30PM. You can RSVP here, or to andreadigiorgio@yahoo.com

Jon will be running in New York’s 26th Congressional District against Tom (throw tommy from the train) Reynolds, who’s re-election, last year, defies all logic.

In researching Jon for this post, I found he was a regular writer for the Huffington Post. So, if you would like to check him out further, before meeting him, have a go. Hmmmm, a teacher and an Iraq war vet with a unique perspective and depth of character-wonder what his angle is?

Eric Massa will be trying to join us that evening also, so perhaps 2 for the price of 1 (and it’s free) will entice you to make an evening of it. Come and check out what Congress’s future looks like.

Here at RT we love our readers. And we love that more and more of you have been stopping by to read every month. We’re curious as all get-out about what kinds of folks are reading up on local politics here. Are you die-hard progressives, glad that there’s an on-line progressive presence here in Rochester? Are you die-hard conservatives, shaking your heads in disbelief at those durn liberals? Or are you somewhere in between, just glad for a local, topical alternative to the corporate news?

No matter who you are, we’re glad you’re here. And if you’re glad we’re here, and want to support us, simply fill out this quick reader survey. It’ll help potential advertisers make up their mind to advertise on RT, and thus support the progressive movement right in your backyard!

You can find the survey here. It’s quick, it’s easy, and, sick as this sounds, I actually found it kinda fun.

About 5% of RT readers have filled it out so far. I’d like to see us triple that number.

Here’s a fun snippet of the folks that have responded so far– Party Registration:

I know that this is supposed to be a local political blog, but I think sometimes we need to celebrate local talent too. This Fall, a new sit-com will premire, featuring the Geico Cavemen. The lead, Joel will be played by a local talent, Bill English, who attended Honeoye Falls-Lima Central School, class of 1998.

Bill English

Debuts Tuesday, October 10th, 8PM on ABC. Take a look.

A recent Salon article about the decline in unionized auto workers (and decline in auto workers in general) at the “Big 3″ automakers here in the US. The article points out that the right and left’s arguments are not quite correct:

The right would have us believe the denouement is labor’s fault — that the glorious victories of organized labor in the past paved the way for the uncompetitiveness of American carmakers in the future. But if labor was such a millstone around the Big Three’s necks, then how was it, exactly, that Ford and GM were raking in record profits a little more than half a decade ago? The high cost of American labor didn’t seem to make that much of a difference when Chevy Tahoes and Ford Expeditions were selling like hot cakes.

The left blames free trade: cheap foreign labor undercutting the American worker. But if that’s the only thing going on here, then why are hybrid sales rising so rapidly — by 49 percent in the first seven months of 2007 as compared to last year? Hybrids are not cheap cars.

The calculus is simple: If your costs are higher than your competitors’, and you make a product that customers don’t want to buy, you’re doomed.

That’s the problem. And how did we get here?

Government refused, at the direct request of Detroit, to pass laws that would require American carmakers to increase fuel efficiency. Government refused to come up with a national healthcare system that would have made it easier for American companies to compete globally.

Meanwhile management focused on short-term profits and shareholder “value” at the expense of long-term strategies for increasing market share. Instead of being smart, the Big Three played it stupid. Now, they can’t compete at the low end or the high end.

Sounds like what we’re doing at the county level– focusing on “one shot” deals to close budget gaps, selling off our county’s assets, and making decisions based on what will keep Minarik & crew in power, vs. a long-term, innovative vision of what’s best for the county.

The D&C had this little tidbit Wednesday:

New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has no interest in replacing Hillary Clinton as U.S. senator if she is elected president.

“It’s hard for me to imagine a position where I can do as much good as the attorney general,” he told the editorial board of the Democrat and Chronicle during an hour-long meeting today.

Who else would be on the short list of folks up for the seat?  Spitzer would be appointing them, so it technically could be anyone.  Are all the presidential candiates from Dem-governed states?  The current senate needs all the help it can get. Though on paper it looks like a Dem majority, more, and better Dems are needed.

Remember we reported way back in March about the kerkuffle in Webster over the Mayor taking a village employee’s file? Apparently there was enough of a stink raised that he resigned Thursday. From R News:

Webster Mayor Resigns At Meeting

by Amy Young Published Sep 27, 2007

Watch Video

The mayor of the village of Webster resigned Thursday night at a public meeting of the Webster Village Board. Mayor Jack Judge told R news he resigned amid allegations he took a file from a filing cabinet. Mayor Judge told R News he did indeed take the file, but Judge claims his attorney said his actions were not illegal. The resignation was captured live on Time Warner Cable access channel 12.

I guess he thought it would be good timing, what with all the uproar over Brooks/Minarik’s budget plan. Glad R News was on the scene to catch it!

I’m wondering what effect this news will have on the Webster races for Town Super, Board, Justice, and of course the 8th County Leg district.

Here’s a great idea to end the war that’s making the rounds:

A small group of Republicans facing election fights next year have rallied around war legislation they think could unite the GOP: a call for an end to U.S. combat in Iraq, but not until President Bush is out of office.

City Newspaper, in their dining section this week, reminds us of upcoming local festivals, many centered around New York State apples. There’s Wyoming County’s Apple Umpkin Festival in the historic Gaslight Village, the Hilton Apple Fest, Wolcott’s Apple Harvest Festival and Sportsmen’s Show, Wayne County’s Apple Tasting Tour, and the Great Sodus Bay Association’s Apple Feast. Will this be the last year for these events?…..

New York State apple growers will have a problem on their hands when Bush’s new immigration plan is set in motion:

Apple growers in New York State depend on as many as 8,000 seasonal workers to pick the fruit each year. But with the U.S. Government breathing down their necks, billions of apples could end up on the ground.

There are 45,000 acres of apple orchards in New York State. And farm workers pick as many as 30 million bushels of apples a year. But all of that could be threatened by a new immigration rule pushed by President Bush in August. If a farm worker is found using a fake social security number, the employer would have to fire the worker or face a $10,000 fine.

“We don’t have a dependable and reliable labor force to harvest our crops,” said Jim Allen, the President of the New York Apple Association.

He says the immigration reform has failed apple growers.

“To think that we could find 3 to 4,000 workers for three months here in Wayne County or here in this area to harvest apples it’s just not realistic,” said Allen.

I don’t agree with the idea that these immigrants are taking work away from local workers. There are very few US citizens who would work for 3 months, for minimum wage, or below. Why can’t we have a plan to offer seasonal permits for these workers who return every year to the same farms to pick the apples? I really don’t think this is rocket science. Why does every plan that comes from this administration have to be so poorly thought through?

Or Penfield? Or Henrietta?

Brooks/Minarik are spinning feverishly to do damage control on the F.A.I.R. (Freely Acting Irresponsible Republicans) plan they rammed through the County Legislature. The local media, to their credit, seem to be getting that not only is the plan a bad idea, the way the local GOP handled it is even worse.

But that’s the media. What do everyday folks, less plugged-in to the news than you readers, think of all this? Hint: it’s not pretty.

To answer, let’s look at a story a reader mailed in to us Wednesday night, after seeing news of this fiasco.

I just received a phone call from my mother-in-law and she was hopping mad about what transpired last night. The conversation started at full volume. Her first reaction, “How could they do this, putting politics ahead of children?” You have to understand, I was pretty shocked by her level of frustration, given she typically has very little interest in current events of a political nature.

She had just turned on Channel 13 and watched Superintendents from across the county criticize the actions taken by Maggie Brooks and the Republican county legislators. Apparently, reporters tried to visit Maggie, but she wouldn’t address their questions in person (I haven’t watched the news to verify). My mother-in-law asked me to explain the legislative package in more detail, and then wondered where such a scheme could have come from. I told her what I personally believe; it came from the Chair of the Republican Party in Monroe County, Steve Minarik. Of course, this opened up a completely new front of vituperative comments. She asked, “How could the Chair of a political party be making such important policy decisions? Isn’t Maggie Brooks the County Executive? Of course this is the type of swill one would expect from the Chair of a political party, but it’s the public official’s responsibility to draw the boundary.” I said, look, I don’t have all the evidence, but his interference has been documented by the local media, I’ve heard about it from some of my friends who are active Republicans, and folks who attended the special session last night said he was sitting in the front row making facial gestures as if things had unfolded according to plan.

At this point, she stopped the conversation and said, “It’s gone too far! I’m about to jump through the roof and every other parent with a child in K-12 must be flipping out as well tonight.” What more could I say?

What more? How about “This is why politics matters– vote the bums out!”

This is weird. When you go to Randy Kuhl’s MySpace page, a cover of the John Lennon classic “Imagine” plays. It’s been changed slightly so that it says “brotherhood and sisterhood of man” instead of “brotherhood of man” (a nod to Randy’s feminist sympathies, no doubt), but otherwise it’s the same as the original. And it doesn’t sound too Republican to me:

Imagine there’s no Heaven
It’s easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky

(snip)

Imagine there’s no countries
It isn’t hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too

(snip)

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world

Is Randy a closet socialist/atheist?

Update: They changed it to “God Bless the USA” a few hours after we posted this.

This is big news if it happens:

He has been a football star, a lawyer, and a television commentator, and is now a best-selling children’s author.

But Tim Green, who played seven seasons for the Atlanta Falcons after a standout career at Syracuse, apparently wants something more. At the urging of Gov. Eliot Spitzer, he is laying the groundwork to mount a Democratic challenge to the longtime Republican state senator in his district, in the Syracuse area, several Democratic officials said.

Mr. Green’s plan to run against John A. DeFrancisco, 60, of Syracuse is a worrisome development for the Republican Party, which holds a narrow two-seat majority in the Senate, their last statewide power base.

Incumbency has often been a virtual guarantee of re-election for state lawmakers, but Mr. Green’s potential entry into the race reinforces the idea that Republicans will have to fight more vigorously than usual to hold the Senate in 2008.

Green comes across very well on television and is very intelligent (not just intelligent for an athlete). Let’s hope he gets in. This is about changing Albany.